Thomas Hooker Munich-Style Lager - Thomas Hooker Brewing Company

RonfromJersey

New Jersey

4.5/5  rDev +13.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Initial pour into a pilsner glass resulted in foam for two-thirds of the glass. After that subsided, a second pour left an attractive three fingers of white froth atop a radiant clear golden body. Good lacing.

Inviting hay/grass nose, with a distant whiff of bakery.

A smooth lightly sweet malty body glides across the tongue, and a very subtle hop presence arises to balance and provide a clean finish which is not quite a snap, but is nicely refreshing.

Nice mouthfeel, not some mealy lager here, this has substance without being overly thick. Flows down the throat without being watery.

Drinkability is so good that the bomber seems more like a single. A bomber bottle that should be bought in quantity.

A highly enjoyable example of what an "everyday" lager should be.

Serving type: bottle

11-28-2005 22:47:08 | More by RonfromJersey

PatandDavid

Massachusetts

4.55/5  rDev +14.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Thanks to fellow BA Venom, David and I were able to try this very tasty American version of a favorite style. I wanted to make it special, so out comes my Kloster Andechs pils glass. This beer opened gently, and poured into my glass and David's (Raderberger pils glass, if you gotta know) with no big fuss or overun. The color is clear copper, very nice hue. If you take a nice glance at your glass, you have tiny streams of carbonation rising through-out the glass. Head topped both glasses at first, but has since died down. While I was impressed with the color, I have to say that what impressed me most with this beer was it's spot on aroma...mostly malt, exactly what it should smell like. I was a bit surprised that it was so authentic. After imbibing this for a while, I have to admit, my initial taste impression was of bready doughiness. Good tasting, but pronounced. Now that the beer has been warming for a while, I have to say that the mouthfeel is very good, medium. I think it could be a touch more crisp for the style, but on the otherhand, it makes it slightly more of a session beer. I am still getting nice breadiness, with a bit of hop bite and some sweet corn in the end, but I have to hand it to the brewer, no metallic notes at all. Very nice, easy to drink...if I had this on tap, I don't think I would switch to anything else at the session. Thanks again Venom!

Serving type: bottle

08-12-2004 23:05:48 | More by PatandDavid

Beerislife652854

Connecticut

4.55/5  rDev +14.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Saw this one advertised on Connecticut Public Television, believe it or not.

A - Crystal clear amber gold with fine carbonation and a thin head that fades to nothing.

S - A crisp day in October.

T - Nice balance of bitter hops at the beginning, finishes with a slightly sweet aftertaste. Essentially, what a beer should taste like.

M - Carbonation is near perfect. Crisp and refreshing.

D - Very drinkable. Great for outdoors.

Serving type: bottle

05-29-2010 20:01:42 | More by Beerislife652854

Bighuge

Minnesota

4.58/5  rDev +15.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Perfect shade of gold. A deep shade. Very slight haze is noted. It's kind of like looking at the sun on a hot and very hummid day. Nice stream of CO2 rising at a moderate pace. Decent crop of bone white head with good retention. Lace is adequate. Aroma seems sweet. Like hayfields. And candy. And yeast. And grains. The mouthfeel is full and round. The body is damn near full. Quite nice. And just the right amount of prickly carbonation. Flavor is quite bready. Nice yeast contributions. Sweetness is subdued, but present. And just a little snap of bitterness. Quite tasty. And quite drinkable as well. pbrian predicted that this growler wouldn't last an hour for me. Well it did, but not by much.

Thanks Paul.

Serving type: on-tap

11-21-2004 05:17:28 | More by Bighuge

mikeys01

Colorado

4.6/5  rDev +15.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Served from a 22oz bottle, fresh from the brewery. Pours into my glass a scintillating burnished gold color, crystal clear with nice effervescence and a perfectly foamy white head. Aroma is very sweet and malty, with some light german hop notes and just a hint of green apple. Sipping yields a refreshing floral hop character up front that is delicately balanced to complement the massive chewy malt center. I don't know if it's partly the freshness of the beer, but what's stuck with me since my first samples of this beer is that it's a bit like chewing on a handful of fresh cracked malt. A bit sweet, very slightly caramelized, with a nice glimmer of spicy hop bitterness in the finish. A bit of apple noticeable in the initial flavor after a bit as well. Body is not quite medium, which combined with the taste make it immensely drinkable. Excellent beer, cheers to Paul and Troutrook for continuing to crank out some top quality beer.

Serving type: bottle

08-11-2004 02:19:40 | More by mikeys01

oxmasterscream

New Jersey

4.6/5  rDev +15.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

22 oz. bottle courtesy of UnionMade, big up.

Appearance: Big pillowy off-white head sat atop a beautifully clear, tiny bubble laden, golden lager splashed with just a touch of amber.

Smell: Sour apples, pale malts and a faint bits of floral hops and lime. Very German, authentic aromas. Maybe the best smelling lager ever. I wanted to dive right into the glass.

Taste/Mouthfeel/Drinkability: All at once, crisp sour apples and a touch of spice wrapped in sweet malt, followed by a very mild bitterness and then a sweet malty finish. Very carbonated, light to medium bodied but amazingly smooth and creamy. Taste was extremely fresh, clean and invigorating. Easily the best lager I've had to date. This is easily something worth stocking up on for frequent enjoyment. Must be nice to live in CT. Great, great stuff. Thanks again to UnionMade for the opportunity.

Serving type: bottle

10-15-2004 03:27:07 | More by oxmasterscream

jeffthecheff

Germany

4.6/5  rDev +15.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Pours a gold color with brilliant clarity. The head is very white, with great lacing and retention. The carbonation bubbles streaming up the middle add liveliness to the appearance.

The aroma is very bready, which doesn't suprise me based on the word "Munich" on the label. It has a really interesting dough like quality, even with a bit of yeast. There is also a touch of noble hops in the back. I could see this beer smelling better with just a touch more hops, but this level is still good.

The flavor is simple, crisp, tight, and very fresh. You get a little less Munich malt than on the nose, but it still provides the accent to an otherwise simple and clean beer. Bitterness and hop flavor are both low.

The body is light, carbonation is spot on, and the feel is smooth on the palate. I expect a lager like this to be easy to drink, but after my first sip, I knew I needed to have another. That is actually rare for me, so this scores a perfect 5 for drinkability.

Serving type: bottle

07-07-2010 20:44:03 | More by jeffthecheff

sacfly

Maryland

4.65/5  rDev +16.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Appeared first in a flight glass, and then was selected for a full pint. It was actually an alternate choice in the flight of five samples- but lucky me they were sold out of the first choice. Was a nice golden/copper color with a medium bubbled head. Smell was like sticking my head in a bag of Munich malt grain. Sweet. My wife described it as “sweet mulch smell” which was right on the money. The taste was sweet and tasted exactly as I would expect a “Munich Lager” to taste. The after taste was amazing. I homebrew and like to taste the grains that I am using. This tasted-especially the aftertaste-like chewing on Munich grain. Wonderful Munich grain aftertaste. Did I mention the Munich grain aftertaste? Wow.

This is by far the best lager I have ever had. If you think lagers lack diversity and character, try this one. It will tear down ever preconceived notion of what a lager is and can be.

Serving type: on-tap

06-30-2005 22:27:04 | More by sacfly

dag06001

Connecticut

4.75/5  rDev +19.3%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

This beer is my new favorite. I got this beer at a beer tasting at the Thomas Hooker Brewery in Bloomfield Ct. The beer was really fresh with a nice golden appearance. This beer tastes great and is perfect for summer days. I'd recommend this beer to anyone who likes really light colored beers.

Serving type: growler

06-01-2010 02:30:51 | More by dag06001

necoadam

Connecticut

4.78/5  rDev +20.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

They did it again! Damn this is so good and tasty.

Appearance: Pours out a golden/brass color with a nice big head that develops and takes a little bit to settle down.

Smell: Quite malty with a touch of hops in there for a nice balancing effect. It was also more on the sweet side, but it wasn't too overwhelming.

Taste: Nice malt backbone to this beer starts off. Hops blend in with some bready notes which mixes in with some ctirus and caramel flavors. Nicely balanced.

Mouthfeel: Pretty smooth and creamy and goes down quite fast. Carbonation was fairly good. Nothing out of control here.

Drinkability: Damn, feels like this 22oz bomber went like a 12oz bottle. Picked up three bottles Saturday and killed them all. This is just so damn tasty. If you see this Hooker, do pick it up!

Serving type: bottle

08-25-2004 00:32:26 | More by necoadam